Thats how they stick you with new taxes, say it's for the enviroment have no accountability of where the money goes and then wind up keeping it around because people "FEEL GOOD" about it.

it's people like your ex co-worker that drive up taxes and transit prices.

Worse. Its a tax "credit" meaning it raises the minimum threshold not to pay taxes by $15. Since the lowest tax bracket is ~20%, you're only saving 20% of 15% or ~$3/mn.

You're welcome to move to another country if that's your mentality. Canada is a socialist country, which means the majority pay for services that are in the best interest of society, even if only a minority of people use them - subsidized public transit being one of those services.

I agree that it sucks, yet its part of being Canadian.

You cna't really blame anyone when thier systems allows you to do it.

Like if I leave $50 on the sidewalk with a note saying "Please do not take" I bet you ppl will take it. Is human nature to take/get away with things they can.........

Does your ex-coworker shoplift candy bars from convenience stores as well? Or steal gasoline from gas stations before you had to prepay?

Everything is so damn expensive.. :heckno:

I mean, I understand that ya... Taking money from riders is better than taking money from us drivers

But I also think that translink is punishing the poor. It's not that people don't drive, it's because some family can't afford to drive... And lemme tell you, it's does not cost that much to run a 96 corolla around. But if you or your family can't even afford that, then I guess you are already trying to make every dollar count... And the price increase in this case just sounds absurd.

I been in situation where I try to make ends meet, and trust me when I say, every dollar counts.

A little off topic, but still Translink...

They just released some info about the Burnaby Mtn Gondola: Will take 12 million dollars MORE to operate over the next 25 years than the current bus system.

It seems like it is run by a bunch of idiots, so I wonder if they are going to go for it....I doubt it though. At least....I hope they don't.

Cars aren't cheap to run. $50 in gas every two weeks (depending on how much you drive), $1000 basic insurance (if you have a good record), plus $500 in maintenance/incidentals a year = $2500 a year.

That's pretty minimum - and with Basic Insurance... if you run basic insurance and you crash your car and it's your fault - you're paying out of your pocket to fix it.

A Monthly pass at $110 (2 zones, current price) is $1320 a year.

Translink is bullshit it doesn't even run where I need it to get to work in the morning. The government should do something like letting people be able to "Opt out" of taxes (like carbon tax) if we agree not to use these services of translink.

:)

seems like just rise @ inflation rates as they last raised it what, almost 5 years ago? fine by me

They also got a ton of extra increase $$ from raising parking taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, etc

No where close to just inflation, if you look at the total what they spend.

Actually that's not the solution. I used to think that way too, as all world city transit systems have turnstiles, but the implementation cost of these electronic turnstiles (which are coming btw) is so huge that it'd take (I was told) nearly 20 years for the cost to be recuperated. They also did a study showing that the number of fare evaders was actually very low.

Anyhow, if I were in Vancouver long term I wouldn't mind even paying over $100/mth, but only if the system ran far more frequently and the Skytrain operated way later.

As a reference, NYC's metro pass is about $104/mth, but the subway is 24/7 and goes really far and all over the place.

London's zone 1/2 pass is about $130/mth, tube goes everywhere, with trains coming every 5 minutes roughly, and buses that usually come every 5-10 minutes.

The problem though, is that those cities are far denser and everyone takes transit -- here everyone likes to drive and the distances are spread out.

It's not just about the money. The gondola would allow the university to continue operating during snow storms. Once it snows on the mountain, you can't go up, or get down from campus.

Funny you should mention London - because their Tubes close even earlier than our skytrain. Some of the lines have a last train of 11:00 some night - most last trains leave central by 12:30. They have random closures of entire lines on sundays, and just random days sprinkled here and there.

Their infrastructure is so old that their trains break down often. It's very uncommon to look at the TFL website and seeing all the lines actually appearing green - because there is always one line that is delayed, or closed due to repairs.

Some of their buses come every 5-10 minutes - but try taking a night bus home. I was taking a night bus home from clapham south to holland park where I was living at the time - and it actually took me over 2 hours.


But you're totally right - due to their density - as well with NYC - the service is so much better than what we can do in Vancouver with limited people taking the trains and our population spread out so thin.

Honestly, I hope they do run it. I live down the hill from SFU and countless times I've had friends who were at SFU stuck at the top or told not to go to class because snow has closed the roads and the busses can't get there.

People have lost weeks worth of classes because of snow delays over the years. If they put in the Gondola, they might finally have a method of getting people up and down the mountain that isn't completely dependent on the Weather Gods.

And yes, it really is a goddamned mountain. There is snow at SFU every year, regardless of whether or not it falls on the rest of the lower mainland.
There are two reasons I'm happy turnstiles are coming in.

One: Everyone on the trains must pay, just like on the busses
Two: turnstiles will keep off the riffraff--those who are less likely to pay are also more likely to be troublemakers in general.

Not untrue, but there are fringe benefits. Know how they call it the CrimeTrain? And how people who commit crimes just hop on and off and know they won't get caught 'cause there's a RIDICULOUSLY low chance that anyone's gonna be around to catch them not paying? Yeah, guess what's not gonna happen as much.
The trains might run 24/7, but not all the stations do. I was staying in New York, about 3 blocks from Times Square, and a decent chunk (can't speak for all of them 'cause I didn't try all of them) of the stations closed at or around midnight or shortly thereafter. Trains aren't much use if you can't get to the stations.
That's the nail and you've hit it on the head. Yet all the people who complain about condos and townhouses and apartments are the ones who also would benefit from the higher density and transit-centric-ness of it all.




I'll be honest. I'm a transit user, and I'm more than happy to pay, even with the extra 12.5%. I live in Burnaby. I work downtown. With the last car I owned on my own (an old Integra with 30% discount) I paid the following:
$200/mo insurance
$200/mo gas

Add in another $150 a month for parking downtown (if I were lucky and wanted to walk) and I'd be paying $550 vs $125.


I'm good.

Dudes, really?!

I went to SFU for almost 5 years and I can count on one hand how many times the campus was closed due to snow.

Do we really need to spend millions (for construction and operation) to avoid MAYBE 1-2 campus closures a year for?

I really don't think so.
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I'm in favor of raising transit costs. It's still cheap compared to Ontario. What wasn't right was the 2 cents carbon tax. I'm very close to just driving out to point Roberts to fill up just because.
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i wish that my wage goes up as easily...:troll:

I agree with you that keeping a car on the street is no small investment... (thank you for your math, but yes you are right on the money of how much i spend) all to my point that Translink is punishing the poor. At least from where I stand, I see that Translink are making the families that cant afford to spend an extra $1180 on transportation to cough out more money.... (bare minimum VS 2 zone transit cost).

To me, cept maybe for the people that work in DWTWN Vancouver, they are making a sacrifice in time/energy just to save that extra $1180/yr. Lets face it, our public transit system isnt the greatest. When will it be enough? I drive, but at the same time, I already do feel that public transit is over priced as it is...

just my 0.02